Inside

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Inside is a book. I’d like to be able to call it fiction, but I’m not too sure about that, at least not all of the time. It was definitely inspired by real events, people, things happening in the world. It was my world as I saw it at the conceptualizing, and not much has changed. Its still a difficult world to love in. With this page, I hope to develop a following for the book, reveal some of the actual chapters as they are in process of being written and share some of the things that inspire the book, what is happening in the world as I see it, some of the other works that were influential to the themes of the book, and some of the events that happened as I was outlining that are very significant to the book. Inside is about what goes on inside of us that is never spoken, never acted out for fear, for anger, for belief, and what happens when all of that comes out. When I came up with the initial concepts for Inside, most of the plot and characters came to me in an instant, and it has taken me, due to various other stresses in my life, Close to two years to outline it about two-thirds of the way through. This is the point at which I can begin actually writing it. I believe the book is a piece of fiction, rather than a work of fantasy. Certainly the first part of it is very realistic, and nothing fantastic enters into it. And if you believe that you need only think it for it to come true, then the last two thirds will not seem like fantasy at all. In the end, if the book gets published, it will likely land in the fantasy section. I have never written anything like this before, characters with incredibly complex emotional lives, a story that is truly epic in size, and I’m going to be putting significant pieces of it up here while in process. My blogs in this site will be about writing and inspiration, things that I usually keep pretty quiet. Part of the mystique of the writer, I guess. In the end, I’ll compile all of these and maybe have an extra book in the deal. I hope everything will be compelling enough to read. Inside is the story of an artist. The artist (whom I haven’t even named yet) has a very keen eye for social imbalances, persecution in its subtlest forms, social structures that wind up demoralizing a person from the inside, intolerances that lead to violence. His message is one of peace, love, tolerance and understanding, but not everyone in the world shares that interpretation of his work. There are various people, mostly conservative fundamental types that feel he is promoting an evil agenda, one of sin and influenced by the devil. His agent seems quite capable of manipulating this side of the culture for his own gain in the form of publicity for the artist. But the book is really the story of the artist and his love, Claire. There is a lot that happens before they split, and a number of reasons that they do, and this instant to me is the inciting incident of the book, even though it occurs mid-way through the story. At the outset of the book, the artist is in a relationship with Claire, and it is this relationship that defines the story. Despite all of the problems that the artist encounters, the story is really theirs, and theirs alone. In the first part of the book, while the artist is beset by accusations from fundamental religious leaders, his personal life begins to crumble, his parents’ health starts failing, his sister’s husband leaves which pushes her into a deep depression along with financial troubles and drug addiction. The stress of living the life of a struggling young artist along with this stress leads him to get a job to help cover the expenses of his parents. The job turns out to be hell, though. His boss has his own hang-ups, and is ready to take it out on everybody around him. Claire feels the stress as well, and can’t take it. As she tries to break up with him, and everything else crumbles around him, he has an aneurysm and slips into a coma. When he wakes up, everything has changed. His parents have both passed, his sister has recovered with the help of a new fiancée and a new-found belief in Christ. He has some damage in the self-control centers of his brain, which means his expression is no longer held back by anything learned, but he also finds himself inexplicably unable to speak. His lack of self-control also manifests in a new ability to paint and sculpt and build using only the powers of his mind. This new ability only serves to increase the hatred of the zealot, and the assassin that stalks him. But his personal problems continue. As he recovers from the coma, he has much to straighten out, and in trying to recover emotionally and financially, he neglects Claire, and on the verge of at least repairing himself in some ways, she leaves him, and this leaves him emptied. Claire falls into a series of terrible relationships. He continues to think only of her. After a series of conflicts, the artist is forced to leave the country, but he won’t let it stand. He builds an island off the coast using his mental abilities. This island becomes a free land, but also a place where his vision starts coming true. The inside comes out. For everyone. And this is when Claire realizes she really does love him and an army of fundamentalists is sailing to kill him.